Polar Bear Problem

STEP 1 – Identify Need or Problem

Design ProblemBASIC: “With sea ice melting at record levels, polar bears face two massive, connected threats to their lives: an inability to access prey and an increasing distance between sea ice and land masses.”

IN DEPTH: “Polar bears move to coastal regions when the weather warms up and the ice shrinks for the season. Because the bears aren’t built to hunt on land, they mostly lie around as their bodies rely on stored-up fat for sustenance. When winter comes and the ice returns, it’s time to hunt again….But as the ice continues to melt, the time and energy it takes to swim from land to an ice sheet is increasing beyond the bears’ capacity. Polar bears are being forced either to stay on land for extended periods without food or, when they get hungry enough, to make the swim and risk drowning or freezing along the way…The other problem with having to hunt on increasingly shrinking bodies of ice is that the polar bears’ main prey, the seal, is a stronger swimmer than the bears are. The bears are faster than seals on the ice, but with less ice to move across, the seals are getting away. And with less food to eat — especially less fatty food like seals — the polar bears are thinner than they used to be, and have less body fat to keep them warm. This lack of insulation makes the extended swim to and from shore even more dangerous, and it makes it harder to live comfortably for an extended period of time on land”-from how stuff works

STEP 2 – Research

How do polar bears hunt? What do they eat? How far can they swim? What is their current habitat? Anything else that would affect the polar bears use of your design.-basic information: reseach the global warming issues and the ice floe issue.
-you might want to start with the following links: 1 234

Research materials if need be.-materials: click on these links 12-joints and fixings: click here-ergonomics: how big are polar bears? Weight? Etc.-existing product review with pictures: has anyone design anything yet?